Is "Freeze" the Next Juice Trend?

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Instead of ice cream, fro yo, or sorbet, how about cooling down with a frozen green juice? If you live in Palo Alto, you’ll soon be lucky enough to order this new treat.

California-based Pressed Juicery will be rolling out a new line of "soft serve frozen treats" in its Palo Alto store this month. Called a "Freeze," they’re made exclusively from vegetables, fruits, and (for some flavors) almond milk. This certainly sounds like the first of its kind—but we hope it's not the last!

A gluten-free, dairy-free, and no-added-sugars alternative to frozen yogurt, the "Freeze" will come in six flavors: greens, citrus, fruit, roots, and vanilla or chocolate almond. "The ingredients range from kale, cucumbers, and spinach, to carrots, beets, and ginger," says Pressed Juicery founding partner Hayden Slater. "Some of them have almonds or coconut, some are sweetened with dates, and some just have the sweetness from the other fruits themselves."

And while the texture is not quite like frozen yogurt, Slater says the consistency is surprisingly smooth and fluffy for a non-dairy treat. "It's definitely not slushy or icy, which is what really differentiates us from everyone else out there."

So, can we expect to see other juicers hopping on the soft-serve bandwagon? Slater doesn't count on it: He says his technique took several years to perfect, and requires "proprietary machinery" to achieve the Freeze's airy, whipped texture. Unfortunately, that also means it's not something we non-Californians can replicate at home.

As a next-best thing, Slater suggests ordering bottles of cold-pressed juice and freezing them in popsicle molds for a not-as-creamy, but still-refreshing summer treat. "Our juices freeze really nicely, and they're a great alternative to store-bought ice pops," he says.

The company plans to start serving Freezes in their other Ocean County and Hollywood stores later this year. And good news for the rest of us: Slater says he's got big plans for expansion to other states in the very near future.

Would you eat soft serve made of leafy greens or root veggies? Comment below or tweet us @Shape_Magazine! And if you try one, please let us know!